Texas Bond Review Board:

An Inventory of Bond Review Board Minutes and Agenda at the Texas State Archives,
1987-2010

The Texas Bond Review Board approves state bond
issues and lease purchases with an initial principal amount of greater than $250,000
or a term of longer than five years; is responsible for the collection, analysis and
reporting of information on the debt of the state and local political subdivisions
in Texas; and administers the state’s Private Activity Bond Allocation Program.
These records document those functions, and include copies of minutes, agenda,
transcripts, and occasional exhibits, dating 1987-2010. They comprise the minutes
and agenda of meetings of the Texas Bond Review Board, and the minutes for staff
planning sessions of the Bond Review Board. The bulk of the meeting minutes pertain
to consideration of proposed issues of bonds, installment sales, and
lease-purchases, and give the name of the issuing state agency or university, the
nature of the proposed transaction, a discussion of the issues, and the decision of
the board and terms of approval.

The Texas Bond Review Board was created in 1987 (Senate Bill 1027, 70th Texas Legislature,
Regular Session). Its main function is to review and approve all bonds, installment
sales, and lease-purchases issued by state agencies and universities with a
principal greater than $250,000 or a term greater than five years. The board is
responsible for formulating and enforcing policies regarding debt and bond issues
for the state. It furnishes public information about bonded indebtedness and
provides full disclosure on the costs and methods of debt issuance to citizens. The
board develops consistent guidelines to ensure the security of public money and the
integrity of the projects to which bond proceeds are directed. It also provides
definitive guidelines for bond issuers and coordinates the timing of bond sales to
ensure the most favorable conditions for those sales. Legislation was passed in 1997
which required the board to compile a statewide capital expenditure plan for the
2000-01 biennium that identifies the state's capital needs, alternatives to
financing those needs, and the possible budget impact on the state's debt
capacity.

The board was authorized to implement the Public School Facilities Funding Act,
established in 1989 and whose original intent was to address concerns that the
Internal Revenue Service (IRS) arbitrage rules would result in the Permanent School
Fund (PSF) no longer being allowed to guarantee school district bonds. The Act would
allow the board to lend funds to low-wealth, high-debt school districts to finance
or refinance acquisition, construction, renovation, and improvement of facilities
and capital assets used to support classroom instruction. The state was given the
ability to issue bonds to buy school district bonds thereby conferring the state's
credit rating on the transaction. A 1990 IRS ruling alleviated the initial concerns
and the legislation was never used. There were several attempts to make the Public
School Facilities Funding Act (PSFFA) work. Each attempt found it more costly to use
PSFFA than to issue the bonds directly with the guarantee of the PSF due to the
double issuance cost of both state and local bonds being issued and sold. The Act
was repealed in June 2005.

Originally composed of five members (the governor, lieutenant
governor, speaker of the house, state comptroller, and state treasurer), it is
now composed of four (the position of state treasurer was abolished following a
constitutional amendment in 1996). The governor serves as chair. The board
appoints an Executive Director. The agency had 10.5 full-time equivalent
employees in 2001.

The Texas Bond Review Board approves state bond issues and lease purchases with an initial
principal amount of greater than $250,000 or a term of longer than five years; is
responsible for the collection, analysis and reporting of information on the debt of
the state and local political subdivisions in Texas; and administers the state’s
Private Activity Bond Allocation Program. These records document those functions,
and include copies of minutes, agenda, transcripts, and occasional exhibits, dating
1987-2010. They comprise the minutes and agenda of meetings of the Texas Bond Review
Board, and the minutes for staff planning sessions of the Bond Review Board. Agenda
are present beginning in late 1989, but not every meeting afterward contains an
agenda. Transcripts are included with minutes for three meetings in the early 1990s,
and are substituted for minutes for almost all meetings between October 2001 and
June 2002. Exhibits (such as presentations or application summaries) are rare. Staff
planning sessions are documented for the years 1989-1994.

The bulk of the meeting minutes pertain to consideration of proposed
issues of bonds, installment sales, and lease-purchases, and give the following
information: (1) the name of the issuing state agency or university; (2) the
nature of the proposed transaction (e.g. Multifamily Housing Mortgage Revenue
Bonds, Series 2002--Wheatland Villas Apartments; Consolidated Revenue Refunding
Bonds, Series 2002B; Tax Exempt Commercial Paper Revenue Notes, Series 2003;
lease purchase of Oracle software; etc.); (3) a discussion of the issues,
including (but not limited to) names of representatives present, the amounts,
the purpose(s), the methods for placing and issuing, how they would be secured,
how they would be repaid, the names of consultants, the dates of sales and
closings, etc.; and (4) the decision of the board and terms of approval (in all
caps).

Other business of the board is also briefly documented, including such
things as changes to the board's rules; the legislative appropriations request;
debt issuers guidelines; possible legislative changes; the internal audit plan,
report, and charter; reports from the Executive Director; etc.

Minutes are created to document in a thorough yet summary fashion the
official actions of the board in its meetings. Agenda inform the public as to
what will be discussed and/or decided at each board meeting. Transcripts are
verbatim records of the proceedings of a meeting.

Arrangement of the Records

Restrictions on Access

Materials do not circulate, but may be used in the State Archives search room. Materials will
be retrieved from and returned to storage areas by staff members.

Restrictions on Use

Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted. State records also include
materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the
creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title
17 U.S.C.).

These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas
State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Legislative Budget Board on
October 31, 1997; by the Texas Bond Review Board on May 19, 1998; June 28, 1999;
September 29, 1999; March 30, 2001; September 2, 2003; December 13, 2004;
October 25, 2005; December 12, 2006; December 7, 2007; February 25, 2009;
February 8, 2010; and October 12, 2010; and by the Texas Legislative Reference
Library on September 8, 2003; July 7, 2004; and December 20, 2005.